Explanation:
There's no place like
home.
Peering out of the windows of the
International Space Station (ISS), astronaut
Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born,
and to which she would soon return.
About 350 kilometres up, the ISS is high enough so that the
Earth's horizon appears clearly curved.
Astronaut Dyson's windows show some of Earth's
complex clouds,
in white, and life giving atmosphere and oceans, in
blue.
The space station orbits the Earth about once every 90 minutes.
It is not difficult for people living below to look back toward the
ISS.
The ISS can frequently be seen as a bright point of
light drifting overhead just after sunset.
Telescopes can even resolve the
overall structure of the space station.
The above image was taken in late September from the ISS's
Cupola window bay.
Dr. Dyson is a lead vocalist in the band
MaxQ.